Blackstone Group and billionaire Carl Icahn are offering to buy Dell Inc. without retaining Michael Dell as chief executive officer, spurring debate over whether the personal-computer maker would be better off without the entrepreneur who founded it three decades ago.

Dell said that it has received proposals from Blackstone and Icahn that may be superior to a $24.4 billion buyout plan from Silver Lake Management LLC and Michael Dell.

As CEO, Dell oversaw the company’s rise to the top of the PC industry, yet failed to prepare it for new challenges in mobile technology and high-margin business services.

While Dell’s 15.6 percent ownership stake gives him leverage to negotiate a key role, the company could benefit from new leadership that can accelerate efforts to add growth, said Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan.

“Michael is no longer essential to Dell,” Gordon said. “His attractiveness as a partner to a buyer is the size of his ownership stake. If you are willing to take less than total control, you don’t need him as much.”